Editorial: The best choices to lead Costa Mesa

2012-09-19 17:11:53

Over the past few years we have watched the tough progress being made in Costa Mesa and have observed the strident leadership by the City Council majority to confronting the financial woes plaguing their city and many others in Orange County and throughout California. As such, the Register's Editorial Board endorses Councilmen Steve Mensinger and Gary Monahan for another term, and we endorse Colin McCarthy for an open council seat so that he can join the incumbents in "finishing what they started," as Mr. Monahan put it to us in his candidate interview.

Costa Mesa has put forth a model of what ought to be done to reform municipal finances and empower city residents – the taxpayers – by reining in the power of special interests, pushing for a more transparent government and incubating new policy approaches, such as privatizing city services where it makes sense to do so.

Costa Mesa might just show the Golden State how to close a deficit. The city's unfunded pension liability is now estimated at $221.7 million. Median compensation for a city worker is $140,000, including benefits, nearly double that of the comparable private-sector worker in the city. To face these and other challenges, Costa Mesa needs continued leadership of the sort we believe Mr. Mensinger, Mr. Monahan and Mr. McCarthy, along with incumbent Jim Righeimer, who is not up for re-election, would provide.

"The private sector left the pension model because it is unsustainable," Mr. Mensinger told us. That said, local governments need to come to the same conclusion and move workers to 401(k)-style plans.

Critics of the council majority say politics in Costa Mesa have been divisive, and there's no denying that the tone of the fight has not been the sort of "go along, to get along" routine so many city council members prefer. We see the need for, and encourage, more civility from the current council, but we also recognize that in some cases boldness can be confused for brashness.

Cynics may say that the reason local politics is so vicious is that the stakes are so small. But the stakes here are high. Where Costa Mesa leads, Orange County and California could follow. All eyes are on Costa Mesa, and this election will send reverberations far and wide. Mr. Mensinger was right when he said that if reform were to come to California, it would come from the bottom up, much as it did with Howard Jarvis and the property tax revolts of the 1970s.

Mr. Mensinger and Mr. Monahan have demonstrated leadership through adversity, and we hope voters will stand with them. Mr. McCarthy, we believe, would be an agent for reform and complement the council majority.